A Short Trip
by Pikel
Summary: This is my first story so bear with me. It's just about a boy's first trip to Camp Half Blood, and if you guys like it I will post more. Any reviews would be welcome as well. Rated T
1. A Wrong Turn

This is my first story on here so please review and let me know what you think. Enjoy.

Just another ordinary day at school, right?

The day started off well enough. I went to every class I was supposed to, even my science class. The thing is, I hate science, and the only thing I understand is what metals mix well with others and the periodic table. Everything else our teacher told us went in one ear and straight out the other.

This day, science was my last class, and I was determined to stay awake in it on the last week of school. Even if that meant listening to Mr. Stanton's lectures about life and why are alive.

After the bell rang I headed out the door from my English class, telling jokes with my buddy Matt. Matt was my best and only friend at high school. Everyone else just tried to ignore me. They probably thought Dyslexia and ADHD were contagious. Matt knew better of course.

"I'll see you tomorrow Areth," Matt waved at me as he headed a different way down the hall. That is another thing, my name is totally absurd. Can you name anyone off the top of your head named Areth? Didn't think so. A lot of the kids at my school just call me Adam instead when they are forced to talk to me.

I waved at Matt and walked into the science lab, taking a seat by myself at the back of the class. Mr. Stanton stared at me through his inch thick glasses. "Well, well," he smirked, "look who showed up."

I ignored him.

"You have missed three tests in the past month Mr. Johnson. Should I believe it is just coincidence that you get sick every day we have a test?"

"Not every day, sir," I really hated this guy, "I was here for the Periodic Table of Elements quiz."

"Yes you were, and you even managed to pass." Some of the kids in the class snickered at me and I sneered back at them.

Before I could say anything the bell rang and Mr. Stanton took a seat at his desk. His graying hair covered his face as he looked down at some notes on his desk.

"Class, flip to chapter six in your textbook and read the first four pages. When you have finished that, do the questions on page one hundred and seven."

I raised my hand as all the other kids got out their textbooks and started reading.

"Mr. Stanton?" I asked sheepishly.

"What now?" He did not even look up from his notes.

"I didn't bring a textbook."

"What a surprise. It looks like you will just have to do your work after school."

Like that was going to happen. "Sir, could I borrow yours?"

He looked up from his desk then and stared at me. "I already let someone else use it."

I looked to his right where a textbook was sitting on the side of his desk. There was no one within ten feet of it beside Mr. Stanton. "But-"

"No buts. Back to work with you."

I sighed and began doodling in the back of my binder. I was subconsciously sketching an image of the designs to a large, round arena that looked much like the places gladiators fought at in those old movies. How did I know what one of those looked like?

I spent the rest of the class trying not to draw attention to myself, but his was hard seeing as I had red hair (which everyone made fun of me for), and I was the 'weird kid', who no one wanted to be caught with. Not to mention I was really strong and people thought I was on steroids. So, instead of ignoring me they would throw paper airplanes with notes like "you suck" written in them.

I took one of the airplanes and began to fold it more, changing the shape until it resembled a jet and I threw it back. The girl who had thrown it to me looked at me funny and turned away.

Finally, the bell rang, and I bolted out the door, with my books under my arm. I heard Mr. Stanton calling out behind me.

"Mr. Johnson, come back here this instant!"

I didn't look back but just kept pushing through the crowd of people going through the halls until I got outside.

Naturally, I missed my bus and the next one did not come for another three hours.

A homeless man was sitting by the bus stop, watching me. "It's probably faster to walk kid."

This didn't strike me as odd at the time but when I think back on it, how did the guy know where I was going, or how far away it was?

"Yeah, it probably is." I turned away and began walking. When I looked back at the man he was gone, all that was left was a small cardboard box. "Okay…"

I walked for close to half an hour towards my house downtown where my Mom lived by herself with me. As I was walking I noticed the scenery begin to change to something I had never seen before in this part of the city.

The next thing I knew, the world around me blurred and I was walking down an old country road in the middle of nowhere, probably hundreds of miles from my house. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around. Now, I am usually a pretty laid back guy but this creeped me out to say the least.

"Hello? Where am I? Is anyone here?" I tried running back the way I had come but it led nowhere. I started to get angry

I heard a rustle in the bushes and looked to the left side of the road where a large forest was. Of course, both sides had a forest. I was hoping it would be some boy or girl playing in the forest near their house. Maybe I could ask them for directions.

"Hello?"

The bushes rustled once more and something large leapt out, clearing the ditch on the side of the road. And landing on the road, leaving four hoof marks where it landed. It was definitely not a child. It was a boar, a massive boar with tusks and everything. Yeah, you could say I was scared.

I did the only that made sense. I ran for it.

I didn't get far down the road before I felt the ground shaking before and when I looked back the boar was right behind me, charging with its tusks lowered. I dove to the side and it flew past me.

"Come on, let's be sensible." But apparently the boar did not want to be sensible.

It charged me again and I was suddenly scared. I could die! Wait, I didn't want to die.

The boar got closer but suddenly I felt… different. I heard the sound of a roaring fire in my head and a circular wall of fire suddenly surrounded me, blasting out in every direction. After the initial shock I realized I may have just started a forest fire. Not the best thing to do in the middle of June.

After the fire wave washed over the boar it dissipated and then disappeared completely. The boar was gone entirely and all that remained was a smell of sulfur and a pile of dust where it had been standing. I gulped and ran as fast as I could back towards the road, screaming for someone, for anyone.

What had just happened? After running for what seemed like hours, but had in fact been no more than twenty minutes, I saw a sign advertising a strawberry farm. Finally, some sign of life!

I followed the road in the direction the sign pointed and came to a slightly wooded hill. I could smell the strawberries from here and my mouth watered. How long had it been since I last ate? It must have been a long time.

At the top of the hill I looked down into a beautiful valley and saw the strangest strawberry farm ever. I wasn't about to complain and I ran down the hill towards a large, three storied house. It was getting dark and no one seemed to be around. I looked around and saw a large group of people eating dinner farther up another hill.

I wandered over there and walked into the firelight.


	2. I learn about my new Summer Camp

It's a kind of boring chapter but I didn't want it to seem like he suddenly knew everything about the Camp.

There were twelve tables, though three of them were empty, but all of the others were filled with a few kids. All of the kids there were wearing an orange shirt that read "Camp Half Blood". I thought that sounded like the name to some sort of cult.

When I got into the firelight, cutting off some weird horse-man in mid sentence, everyone looked in my direction. I know what you're thinking, 'weird horse guy?' But this guy was weird. He had a human torso, arms, and a head, mounted on a horse's body where the neck should be. He looked like one of those centaur things we used to learn about in our Social Studies class.

"…Chariot Race this Friday – Children! Pay attention for a minute, I know you are all tired." He gave a big sigh and looked around to see what everyone was looking at. He focused on me and stopped looking around. "Oh. And you are?"

All the kids at the tables were looking at me and I just noticed for the first time all the food on the table. I felt my mouth watering and knew I would drool if I didn't close it. "I, uh. I saw a sign for strawberries and came this way."

The horse-man spoke up again, "Are you lost then? Your clothes look dirty."

"Yeah, I was walking home from school and I must have gone the wrong way."

"Wrong way indeed," he harrumphed, "there are no schools around here for many miles young man. I think I should talk to you in private."

"Sure… er… If you don't mind me asking. What are you?"

The centaur – if that is what he was – chuckled. "I shall explain everything." He turned and addressed the campers at the many tables. "Back to your meals everyone, we will return shortly."

The centaur lead me down to a large building past the volleyball courts and lead me inside. "Take a seat."

I sat. He looked at me funny, as though looking through me. "What is this place?" I blurted.

"Why, it's a summer camp, surely you could tell that."

"I suppose so." I wasn't convinced. All the kids at those tables seemed different.

"Tell me, did you have any trouble getting past our borders?" The centaur gave me that stare again.

"What borders do you mean?"

"Apparently not."

The centaur – which I soon found out, was indeed a centaur! – introduced himself as Chiron, a name I somewhat recognized and gave me the weirdest story I have ever been told. He said the Greek gods of ancient times are still alive but living in America with "western civilization". To top that off, they were still having kids like crazy and there were demigods, also called half bloods. Just like Hercules and Odysseus and all of them.

I didn't buy it at first, I mean, who in their right mind would? But after meeting the camp director, Mr. D (Dionysus) I believed him one hundred percent.

Later that night, after Chiron was done talking to me, I was sent to sleep with the Hermes cabin, where all the new kids go if they do not know who their parents are. The entire night I was thinking about my Mom, and what she would be thinking right now. She must be worried sick, but Chiron said it was taken care of.

I drifted off to sleep very quickly despite all the things running through my head and even managed to find comfort on the cramped floor in the Hermes Cabin.

The next morning I was given a thorough tour by one of the Hermes guys named Jonathan. He showed me the volleyball courts, the climbing wall (with real lava!), the chariot track, the forest where capture the flag and other games were held, and a few other minor places as well. He also told me about all the different gods and goddesses and which cabins were theirs.

We stopped outside the Hermes cabin and he quickly ran inside to get his sword. How cool is that?

"Well Areth, I have to practice right now with a friend of mine, but if you need anything later, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Chiron said you didn't have any activities for the day so feel free to wander around, and explore the camp a bit."

"Alright, um, thanks."

"No problem, see you Areth."

Jonathan ran down the hill with his sword tucked under his arm towards the beach. I watched him go until he faded away over the next hill.

I turned around and found myself face to face with one of the guys from the Hephaestus Cabin. He was tall and looked very strong, but he was not very good looking. "Hi, I'm Charles Beckandorf."

"Oh, hi, my name is Areth."

"I know, Chiron told us all about you last night."

"Oh."

"I hear you don't have anything to do today." He smiled at me, "do you want me to show you around?"

"Actually, Jonathan already did."

"Bet he didn't show you the Armory now did he?" there was a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, no he didn't."

Beckandorf grabbed my shoulder and directed me towards the armory, where it was rumored he could build anything out of metal. I figured, who better to show me around. He showed me his main workspace where there was a large furnace, an anvil, a large assortment of hammers and tongs, as well as a whole bunch of weapons and scrap metal.

I looked at the weapons in wonder, "you made these?"

"Every single one on that wall." He looked very proud of his work, and he should have been.

"That's awesome; do you think you could show me how to make stuff like that?"

"I'd love to, but I can't right now, I only have a few minutes until my Ancient Greek class. But drop by tomorrow and I'll show you the basics."

"That sounds great!" I was definitely looking forward to it.


	3. An Old Friend or a New Friend?

Time to get the story moving.

The next day I woke up earlier than most of the kids in Cabin Eleven and went down to the beach. I wandered along the coastline, thinking of all the different gods and who my father might be. My mom had never married after she met this guy, whoever he was.

Everyone said it was much better off to just have a weak god or goddess as your parent but I secretly hoped it was someone special. I know it's selfish, but what can I say.

I walked along the shoreline, my shoes leaving depressions that filled up with water when the tide rose and fell, eventually disappearing and leaving no trace that I had ever been there.

"Oi, Areth!" a voice came out from some rocks to my right, up towards the camp.

I looked around, "Me?"

A satyr stepped out from behind the rocks, "Yeah you, who else do you know named Areth? Anyways, that is beside the point, follow me, there is someone you should see."

"Alright, where are we going?" But the satyr didn't seem to be waiting for he and he hurried up the slope, I followed him, sprinting to keep up. Man, for having goat legs, satyrs sure could move fast.

I finally caught up with him again when he stopped at the big house. "He's in there, a friend of yours he says."

I peered through the window but the morning dew was thick on the glass and I couldn't see anything but shadows. "Thanks, I guess."

The satyr nodded and bounced off towards the forest. I walked out in front of the door and was about to knock when it was opened from the inside. I saw a familiar face standing in the doorway. "Matt? What are you doing here?" It was my friend Matt from high school, my only friend really.

He just grinned at me and motioned inside. He looked the same as ever except of course, his black hair had grown longer, like it always did. It grew extremely quickly. Inside, along with Matt, there was just Chiron.

"Hello Areth, I see Adam found you. The satyr, I mean." Chiron chuckled and took a sip of what smelled suspiciously like coffee. I hate coffee, it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

"Yeah he did." I turned to Matt, "But what are you doing here?"

Matt gave me that smile of his again that all the girls at school fell for. "No, Areth, what are you doing here? See, I've been at Camp for more than four years now and I only left this year on a scouting mission to find more half-bloods."

"Wait, you're a half-blood too?" I was totally stunned, Matt seemed so… normal. Well, he was an amazing athlete, and all the girls at school would have had major crushes on him if he didn't hang out with me (though I'm sure some of them still did), and he was really smart… Well, maybe not too normal. He was like one of those kids you have at every school, good at everything pretty much.

"Yeah, and when I first found you I had no idea you were a half-blood too, but I had been in the same position as you when I was younger, but I got over it once I had come here. I thought you had been some regular kid but when I figured out you had Dyslexia I started to suspect something." Matt pulled off being normal pretty well compared to me. He fit in with the crowd at our school.

"So, uh, who's your parent?" I felt weird asking him that, like it was something personal.

Matt didn't seem to mind though. "Apollo, the god of music, poetry, light, sun, archery, etc."

"That would explain the archery classes you took then."

"Actually, I taught them, but yeah, that is the reason."

Chiron broke in, "He's just being modest, Matt's come first place once, and second twice in the past three archery tournaments we've had here."

Matt blushed and looked out the window to hide his face.

"Chiron," I decided I should probably tell him about the incident with the boar a couple of days ago. I would have said something earlier but I still felt like it was all a dream. "I… When I came here a few days ago, I had gotten lost on the road, as you know. But I never told you I had a run in with this boar. And I mean it was a giant boar." Matt and Chiron were both listening intently to my story. "It chased me through the forest a small way and it charged at me. But, before it could ram into me, something strange happened. Fire kind of, came out of my body in a wave and disintegrated the boar."

I waited for them to both start laughing at me but they didn't, almost as though this was totally normal. Now, I'm still new here, but even for this weird place it doesn't seem very normal.

"Areth, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Chiron didn't look angry but his tone said that he was troubled.

"I… I don't know really, it was all so overwhelming I kind of blocked it out."

"That is understandable, but if something like this happens again, please let me know, will you?"

"Yes sir."

Before anything else could be said the satyr Adam burst into the room, tripped, and landed hard on the coffee table we were seated at, spilling Chiron's coffee on the floor.

"Chiron," he panted, getting up from the floor with a coffee stain on his back. "there's been an attack at the border, monsters are attacking!"


End file.
